Charmed Once More
by Akari-Taiki
Summary: Piper dies after being shot. Time is never shifted. Prue and Phoebe are left alone to fend off against demons, with no Power of Three. When a new baby half-sister enters the picture, will they be Charmed Once More?
1. Chapter 1

_Hello there! I'm doing some AUs of Charmed, starting with one which goes with if Piper died instead of Prue. The series came close to doing that in All Hell Breaks Loose so I want to explore. However, this will be told in fragments or drabble collection if you prefer it. Please read and review all Charmed fans._

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><p><strong>Chapter One:<strong>

Phoebe was sitting in the attic, the Book of Shadows and a potion brewer in front of her.

"Here now the words of the witches," Phoebe said, her voice choked up and tears rolling down her cheeks. Regret filled inside her as once more she wished they had never become witches then Piper would still be here. "The secrets we hid in the night. The eldest of gods are invoked here. The great work of magic is sought. In this night and in this hour, I call upon the ancient power, bring back my sister, bring back the Power of Three."

Nothing happened, the candle that was lit flickered but nothing else happened. Phoebe put her hands on her face, more tears falling down her face before flipping the page over.

"Powers of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies, come to us we call you near," Phoebe's voice was beginning to choke up again as she put ingredients into the potion brewer. "Come to us and settle here." She cut her finger and spilt the blood into the potion brewer. "Blood to blood, I summon thee, blood to blood, return to me." A faint gust of wind flickers the candle, but not much else. She buries her face in her hands in defeat.

"Phoebe?" A voice called out causing her to look up hopefully.

"Piper?" Phoebe said, hoping against hope it was her sister but it was Prue. Prue came forward, moving besides her baby sister.

"Honey, its four in the morning," Prue said putting a hand on her sister's cheek. "What are you doing?"

Phoebe didn't reply and just stared blankly at the book as if she were hoping for it to perform a miracle for her but it did nothing. Prue noticed Phoebe's index finger was bleeding and grabbed a towel, wiping it with the towel.

"Oh you're bleeding," Prue said worriedly. Phoebe didn't seem to care and that broke Prue's heart. She missed Piper too but she had to be strong for Phoebe, it was what Piper would want for them.

"I don't understand why magic can't fix this," Phoebe said hopelessly as Prue wrapped her wound in a clean cloth. "I mean, we've cheated death before so many times. We've done so much good, don't we deserve to get something back?"

"Phoebe..." Prue began but Phoebe cut her off.

"Don't you see it, Prue?" Phoebe said to her older sister. "This is all my fault. I read the spell that night, I made us witches. If I had never said that spell, Piper would still be with us today." More tears cascaded down her cheeks and Prue pulled her into an embrace, stroking her hair as her little sister broke down completely.

"It's not your fault, sweetie," Prue said gently, trying to sound firm and confident. "We were born witches. It was our destiny. We would've uncovered our powers sooner or later. I'm just..." Tears shone in Prue's eyes as she hugged Phoebe tighter. "I'm just thankful I didn't lose you too." After awhile she pulled away. "Now, come on. Piper will never forgive us if we look bad at her funeral."

Phoebe managed a choked laugh at that. "Yeah, right."

Prue sighed, pulling Phoebe into a loving embrace. For a moment, the two sisters remained like that before Prue managed to gently coax her baby sister to come and get some sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! Here's the second drabble. Hinted Phoebe x Leo if you squint. Thanks plenty to **Shizuku_Tsukishama749 **for betareading this!

**Chapter Two**

The next day, Phoebe was brushing her hair in her room, doing her best to ignore and keep silent the tears that were streaming down her face, when she heard a knock on the door.

"Phoebe? Can I come in?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, sure," she said, wiping away the liquid diamonds a second before he can enters. "Did you want something?"

He sighed. "Everyone's waiting for you downstairs. We need to go."

She looked down. "I don't want to go."

"Phoebe..." Leo understood exactly how she felt. He had just lost his wife and was barely holding it together in front of her and Prue. He hadn't slept all night, and his own eyes were red from how much he had been crying.

"Going means accepting she's gone," Phoebe pressed, lower lip trembling as she begins to cry again. "I don't think I'm ready to accept that there's no way to bring her back."

He put his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them gently and looking her in the eyes. "I don't want to accept it either. But maybe we can try to deal with it together. All of us."

Despite his efforts, his words didn't make her feel any better. If anything, they only make her angrier. "Why didn't you save her?" she blurted out suddenly, voice rising a bit. Her emotions had taken hold of her tongue, but she wasn't about to stop them. "She was your wife, Leo! Why couldn't you save them both?"

The man's expression turned crestfallen. "I couldn't. I can't heal the…the dead, Phoebe. You know that." It felt like a stab to his heart to say such a thing, but it was the truth. Piper...Piper had been his world, his heart, his soul, his everything, and he'd failed her when she needed him the most.

"Why didn't they let you save her, then?" She upped the volume again, but at this point, she didn't care. "What the hell good are they if they can't even help save their precious 'Charmed Ones'?!" she demanded at last.

Her entire body trembled with the force of everything she was feeling – rage, loss, depression – all of it whirling around inside her like a whirlwind, and so it was no surprise to her when she finally shattered like glass. Leo pulled her into his arms, and though she tried to pull away at first, he just held her tighter, and she eventually relaxed, allowing herself to cry into the other's chest. A part of her wondered if she should be doing this with Cole instead, but she dismissed that thought quickly. Now was not the time.

"I can't do this..." Phoebe sniffled. "How am I supposed to go on without her?"

He stroked her hair soothingly even while his own bitter tears fell. "I'm so sorry... I failed you as your whitelighter."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Not your fault. Never your fault. You didn't fail, Leo. She wouldn't want you to think that."

A comfortable, contemplative silence fell between them for a few moments, and then they both jumped at another knock at her door. Pulling away from Leo, Phoebe saw Prue and Cole standing there. "Hey," she greeted softly.

Cole looked between them, suspicious. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," the girl replied. "Let's go."

"I'm not going to the funeral," Prue announced. "I just wanted to come check up on you, sweetie."

"I'm fine…or at least, I will be. But…" her eyes locked with her eldest sister's, "…you know, Piper would want you to be there," she encouraged delicately.

The older woman said nothing for a long moment, and from her blank facial expression, it was almost impossible to guess what she was thinking. But then, finally, she gave a soft smile and shook her head. "You go on without me. I need to handle this my way." She tucked a stray strand of her baby sister's hair behind her ear. "Sorry. You understand."

"Oh, Prue." Phoebe stepped forward to embrace her tightly. "I do. It's okay. I didn't want to go at first either. Just…do what you have to do, okay?"

Her last living sister returned the gesture with just as much fervor, if not more. "Thanks, Phoebs. You, too."


End file.
